More Movies, With and Without Pretension

Green Lantern: Saw this disposable piece of entertainment last weekend in the company of oldmangrumpus and irrationalrobot, both of whom are far more familiar with the canon than I am. Grumpus wrote an interesting review/commentary about the movie that's worth reading from the perspective of comic book continuity versus audience expectation. Mainly, I was there for check-your-brain-at-the-door fun, which is pretty much what I got, though I had my issues with it. Some of it had to do with casting (Blake Lively was a cipher and, really, the wrong sort of woman for her role, and Ryan Reynolds isn't in the least bit distinctive enough to make a lasting impression). Some of it had to do with the movie being unable to decide exactly what it's supposed to be (which Grumpus talks about). And some of it had to do with a lack of plot logic (which seems to be a theme with the two movies I'm talking about today). I kept thinking, as I watched, that director Mike Campbell was trying to make his own "Superman," what with the ominous voice over, the extended, other-worldly introduction, the heavy-handed emphasis on its theme--and there are worse models to follow, certainly. Richard Donner's "Superman" is a classic, and practically created the superhero movie genre as we know it today. But Campbell's no Donner and "Green Lantern" is no "Superman." I think the things I really enjoyed most about the movie were the science fictional elements, the army of alien Green Lanterns--many of them were more distinctive and interesting than the human characters. The rest of it left me, well, meh.

Cowboys & Aliens: Saw this high-concept blockbuster yesterday with ironymaiden, melkahb, varina8, markbourne, and e_bourne. I knew what I was there for: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and special effects. And that's pretty much what I got so--mission accomplished. Now, here's the thing: this flick (which is really the perfect word for it) made no pretensions about having an Important Theme, it slathered on the tropes of the Western genre with an industrial-sized ladle, and the script was pretty inconsequential. And yet, I had a pretty great time and am disinclined to criticize. Was the enjoyment unalloyed? Well, I could get into all the reasons that a purist might condemn the film for being racist (( Spoilers )

), predictable (cattleman as villain, indie businessmen as heroes), cliched (stoic, square-jawed hero rides off into the sunset), and nonsensical (( Spoilers )

). But I'm not going to harp on those issues mainly because, for what the movie is, they don't really matter. This movie is about special FX and 'splosions and Daniel Craig's magnificent physique and astonishing blue eyes, and Harrison Ford having fun playing the nominal bad guy. The movie succeeds beautifully on those levels. It has no pretension which, I think, makes the huge difference between this one and "Green Lantern." It knows what it is: perfect, B-movie summer fun. That's what I wanted, and that's what I got.